Why Luke Weaver could be the Mets' most valuable trade asset 

The Mets are reportedly "open for business," and all of the names they could deal ahead of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline, could Luke Weaver net the biggest return?

It's certainly possible.

According to Will Sammon of The Athletic (subscription required), teams are expected to "aggressively pursue" Weaver over the next few weeks. Depending on what the Padres decide to do with flame-throwing closer Mason Miller, Weaver stands to be the best relief pitcher on the market.

Let's look into the reasons why Weaver is such a compelling trade candidate.

All stats are through play on Tuesday.

He's been dominant

We wouldn't be discussing Weaver in this realm if he was having an underwhelming season, and he is most certainly not. The 32-year-old right-hander has pitched to a 1.98 ERA in 39 appearances out of the Mets' bullpen. Those numbers look even better when you consider how Weaver's tenure in Queens started. He carried a 6.00 ERA into April, allowing multiple runs in three of his first 12 appearances, and then, on a dime, stopped allowing anything at all.

Weaver went 25 consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run, the second-longest single-season streak in franchise history behind Marc Guthrie in 2002. Weaver's 0.31 ERA since May 1 is the lowest among all qualified relief pitchers. He's the only qualified relief pitcher to allow fewer than two earned runs in that span.

Beyond being so good, Weaver has also been particularly impactful. Win Probability Added (WPA) measures how much a player's individual actions increased their team's odds of winning; recording an out in the ninth inning of a close game, for example, is weighed differently than an out in the sixth inning of a blowout. This season, Weaver ranks third among all relievers with 2.50 WPA, behind only Miller (3.23) and Toronto's Louis Varland (3.11).

Even though he's primarily been the Mets' eighth-inning man, Weaver has pitched in plenty of leverage situations. He is holding the opposition to a .133 batting average and .449 OPS in high-leverage spots, which aligns with the .159 BA and .432 OPS he allows in low-leverage spots. In other words: Regardless of the scenario, Weaver tends to be the same pitcher.

"It's really special to be able to use him in those big moments and in those high-leverage games," Mets catcher Luis Torrens said earlier this month.

He has postseason experience

Speaking of high-leverage spots: Weaver is plenty used to the October spotlight (and in New York, no less). Although he struggled for the Yankees in the 2025 postseason -- allowing five runs while recording one out across three appearances -- Weaver flourished in 2024, helping steer the Bombers to the AL pennant. Weaver pitched to a 1.76 ERA in 12 games and went unscored upon in all four of his appearances in the World Series against the Dodgers.

Remember, Weaver wasn't a set-up man then, either -- he was the closer, a role that he assumed late in the 2024 season after successfully changing his identity as a pitcher. He recorded four saves and had the most WPA (0.74) of any pitcher that postseason.

That sort of experience is invaluable, and should be prioritized among contending clubs.

He has more years of club control

Clubs aren't interested in Weaver just because of his past success. In fact, one of the big draws here is Weaver's future.

As a part of the two-year deal that he signed in the offseason, Weaver is due a $12.5 million salary next season. That's a relatively reasonable rate for a high-leverage bullpen arm, and it's another reason why Weaver is an appealing trade candidate. Weaver would command a lesser return if he was a free agent at year's end; the fact that he's under club control through the 2027 season will boost his value.

We've seen teams covet relievers with additional years of control in the past. For a template, look no further than last year's Deadline.

The Blue Jays paid a steep price to acquire Varland, who is under team control through 2030. Miller isn't a free agent until after the 2029 season, but the A's dealt him to the Padres anyway. Other controllable bullpen arms traded last season include Jhoan Duran (under control through 2027) and Griffin Jax (under control through 2027).

All four players are flourishing this season, a year after their respective Deadline deals. According to FanGraphs' version of WAR, Miller, Varland and Duran have been the three most valuable relievers in baseball so far this season. Jax, who has split time between the rotation and the bullpen, has been dependable for the first-place Rays, too.

Weaver isn't necessarily on the same level as Miller or Duran, two of the game's best closers. The point is that these sort of targets are often more appealing -- and more advantageous -- for contending teams, and these types of trades happen often. Acquiring a pitcher with an additional year of control checks off an item on the eventual offseason to-do list, too.